WAYWARD Meaning of WAYWARD in English adj.1 childishly self-willed or perverse; capricious. 2 unaccountable or freakish. Derivatives: waywardly adv. waywardness n. Etymology: ME f. obs. awayward turned away f. AWAY + -WARD: cf. FROWARD Oxford English vocab. Оксфордский английский словарь. 2012